People always think that the best ingredients are what determine the taste of your favorite french fries or cheeseburger but the truth is that the taste is created in a chemical laboratory most likely located in New Jersey. Before these fries are sent to the chain restaurants, like McDonalds, they are flash frozen which takes most of the taste out of the fries. So, for a long time, the taste of french fries was determined by the oil in which it was cooked. When these restaurants were forced to be more healthy by consumers, they had to switch to pure vegetable. This presented a problem; how could they give the french fries the same great taste but not use the same cholesterol rich tallow they had been using previously. To solve this they started looking towards the perfume industry to provide that "natural" or "artificial" flavor.
European perfume companies began to come to America to start into the flavor industry. They used the same chemical processes they used for their perfumes to create smells and tastes that made the consumer think that what they were eating was a mouth-watering burger that got its taste from great ingredients or great cooks. It has now gotten to the point where these "flavorists" are able to create the taste of almost everything you eat including your favorite tv dinner, fast food meal, and even the gum that you chew. This industry has grown into a multi-million dollar industry that is based on secrecy. This is the reason that McDonalds' fries taste so good. Although they take pride in their ingrediants (like their Idaho potatoes), the real magic comes from these flavorings.
First of all, major fast food corporations argue that all of their nutrition facts are readily available for the consumer should know what they are putting in their mouth. Also, although fast food companies like McDonalds do not argue the fact that they use these flavoring companies, they contend that they didn't use flavorings in the past, but were forced to switch from cooking their fries in beef tallow to vegetable oil. To maintain the great taste while using the "healthier" cooking oil, the consumer forced them to turn to these flavorists. The fries are just as unhealthy when using natural ingredients and "artificial" ingredients. Now, its not just fast food industries that use these, they are in almost everything you eat including your tv dinner and your gum. Lastly, McDonalds feels justified about taking over smaller farms because their large potato farms and factories open up many jobs in regions where unemployment would have otherwise been very high.
European perfume companies began to come to America to start into the flavor industry. They used the same chemical processes they used for their perfumes to create smells and tastes that made the consumer think that what they were eating was a mouth-watering burger that got its taste from great ingredients or great cooks. It has now gotten to the point where these "flavorists" are able to create the taste of almost everything you eat including your favorite tv dinner, fast food meal, and even the gum that you chew. This industry has grown into a multi-million dollar industry that is based on secrecy. This is the reason that McDonalds' fries taste so good. Although they take pride in their ingrediants (like their Idaho potatoes), the real magic comes from these flavorings.
First of all, major fast food corporations argue that all of their nutrition facts are readily available for the consumer should know what they are putting in their mouth. Also, although fast food companies like McDonalds do not argue the fact that they use these flavoring companies, they contend that they didn't use flavorings in the past, but were forced to switch from cooking their fries in beef tallow to vegetable oil. To maintain the great taste while using the "healthier" cooking oil, the consumer forced them to turn to these flavorists. The fries are just as unhealthy when using natural ingredients and "artificial" ingredients. Now, its not just fast food industries that use these, they are in almost everything you eat including your tv dinner and your gum. Lastly, McDonalds feels justified about taking over smaller farms because their large potato farms and factories open up many jobs in regions where unemployment would have otherwise been very high.
Works Cited:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7031384